Justice for Victims of Identity Theft, Jail for Skimmer
A Calgary man was arrested and faces four years in jail for manufacturing and selling credit card skimming devices. Nicholas Wayne Joehle used his apartment as a base of operations, but did business from as many as ten Internet cafes in the downtown Calgary area. He sold the illegal devices over the Internet for about $5,000 each.
Skimming occurs when someone runs a credit card through a hand-held device that stores the account number, expiration date, and other information. Waiters and retail cashiers have been known to employ this method, quickly swiping a customer’s card when no one is looking. The devices themselves are so small that they can be used subtly. Other skimmers have implanted such devices in gas pump card readers, returning to collect the harvested information at a later time. It’s a fast-growing type of credit card fraud, and no one is immune.
To protect yourself, pay in cash if you feel uneasy about handing your card over to a waiter. Keep an eye on your card at all times. And always monitor your credit card statements and credit score for unauthorized activity. Thieves thrive when their victims do nothing; contact your card company immediately if you see anything suspicious.
Roger said,
June 22, 2008 @ 7:33 pm
Fraud crimes will continue to grow until the government and banks exploit KEY and PIN system described on website www.xwave.co.uk which will make signature and PIN systems reliable to deter fraudsters from getting tempted to misuse our stolen personal and card details.
Key and PIN system will deter virtually all types of fraud crimes including those Chip and PIN, data protection and biometric ID card systems will fail to deter.
KEY and PIN system could be treated like international ID card since it will personalise signature and PIN to the right individual in any country in the world.
We hope that the banks and government will exploit proposed system before it is too late to stop a fraud boom.